Ozark Tiger E-News

Last week the Governor’s office along with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Health and Senior Services released new quarantine guidelines for schools: If both individuals at school – the person diagnosed with COVID-19 and the person exposed to the positive case – have masks on and are wearing them correctly, the individual exposed does not need to quarantine from school.

Ozark School District has adopted these new guidelines set forth by the Governor’s office, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Department of Health and Senior Services.

We received additional guidance stating face shields will not exempt individuals from being quarantined.

We believe there are situations where face shields can help in the educational process and will continue to allow face shields to be worn by students and staff. If a student or staff member is only wearing a face shield and considered a close contact to an individual testing positive, the student or staff member will still be quarantined.

Close contact is defined by CDC as someone who was within 6 feet of an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period starting from 2 days before illness onset (or, for asymptomatic patients, 2 days prior to test specimen collection) until the time the patient is isolated.​

We continue to use a layering approach to ensure the greatest amount of protection for students and staff:

1) Monitor your health & protect yourself outside of school by minimizing your risk of exposure

2) Social distancing - Staying 6 feet apart is the best way to eliminate the risk of exposure

3) Face coverings - When social distancing is not an option, this is our best line of defense

4) Exposure time (15 minutes or longer) - The level of risk increases the longer groups are in close proximity

5) Disinfecting & hand washing

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break! Monday, Nov. 30 will be a B Day for OMS, OJH, OHS and FRS.

OJH FCCLA students recently went grocery shopping to help stock bags for Care to Learn. Not only is this a feel-good experience for FCCLA students, but it’s also educational. Students are spit into groups; the group that purchases the most non-perishable items wins a small prize. That means students were clipping coupons and looking at sales ads beforehand. Students purchased enough food to be able to send home bags of groceries with 22 students over Thanksgiving break (which is just next week, by the way).

OJH 9th grade students in Ms. Johnson's class have some fantastic sketching skills! Staff members submitted photos of themselves for students to draw during a unit on portraiture.

“The pilgrim children long ago learned to live with ice and snow. They lived in cabins, slept in cold, when nights were long and winds blew cold. But all of them were glad, I’d say, to have that first Thanksgiving Day. And when they went to bed at night, I’d guess their dreams were warm and bright.”

OHS students in Child Development read “The Pilgrim Children” by Leland B. Jacobs to Miss Dollar's 4- and 5-year-old class at Tiger Paw Early Childhood Center this week. The preschool students also learned a Thanksgiving colors poem before making a pilgrim hat and turkey craft. Happy Thanksgiving!

Note: Tiger Paw students are not required to wear masks.

The Advanced Acting class began working on a new project this year of writing, casting and directing their own original 10-minute plays. On Nov. 13-14, 15 of those original plays were performed in front of a live audience and lived streamed. Between the directors, actors and technicians working on this project there were 45 students involved.

Nov. 13 performances

Nov. 14 performances

Fall Theater Showcase full release

How can something so small have such a big impact? Just ask world famous artist Willard Wigan. His microscopic sculptures have made him millions. But he told Ozark High School students that it’s not about money. He enjoys seeing the reactions of people who see his art — which are carved from a portion of a grain of sand and fit in the eye of a needle. Wigan spent more than an hour talking to students about his struggles as a child and how those struggles (such as undiagnosed autism and dyslexia) shaped him and his tiny art. Here are a few things he said while answering students' questions:

• I want to deliver a microscopic message with a big impact.
• Little things really do matter.
• We underestimate things we can't see.
• Creativity is something we all have within us.

Learn more about Wigan and see his art at www.willardwiganmbe.com. (Photo of his artwork is courtesy of his website.)

This week, Honors Algebra II students modeled polynomial equations using technology. Normally each student uses a Ti-84 graphing calculator. Due to COVID, we have to have calculators in bags so they can be sprayed down each night. However, we are using a free app provided by Texas Instruments. Each student in junior high and high school has access to this free app on their chromebook.

West Elementary first graders are learning about light and the difference between transparent, translucent and opaque. This week they used tissue paper, which is translucent, to make a flower to stick in a window and let light shine through.

The OHS 2020 volleyball team is proud to have one player named All-State, as well as multiple players named to the All-District and All-COC teams. Congratulations to the following OHS 2020 volleyball players for receiving post-season awards:

• All-State: Hannah Tadlock
• 1st Team All-District: Hannah Tadlock and Hanna Vorhies
• 2nd Team All-District: Ella Scott and Kinsey McAllister
• Honorable Mention All-District: Madison Satterly and McKenna Rhodes
• 1st Team All-COC: Hannah Tadlock and Kinsey McAllister
• 2nd Team All-COC: McKenna Rhodes and Hanna Vorhies

The OHS 2020 varsity softball team finished with a 15-15 record and a conference record of 5-4. Congratulations to the following players for receiving post-season awards:

• 1st Team COC: Kenna Mayfield

• 2nd Team COC: Emily Schmucker

• Honorable Mention COC: Maddy Spies

• 1st Team All-District: Kenna Mayfield and Emily Schmucker

• 2nd Team All-District: Maddy Spies and Raegen Dickinson

• 2nd Team All-Region: Kenna Mayfield

Junior Varsity finished the season with a 14-2 record and an 8-0 conference record (the team did not get to play Willard). JV also took second place at the Carthage Tournament.

For the first time in school history, an Ozark girls tennis player qualified for State singles competition. Congratulations to Melissa Peralta Sanchez, who was the girls tennis COC and District Singles champion, as well as a State qualifier. Melissa is a foreign exchange student from Mexico.

The OHS Cross Country teams had successful seasons this fall. Varsity girls placed fourth at the COC meet Oct. 20 while the varsity boys placed sixth. At Districts Oct. 31, the girls and boys teams both placed fourth, and four runners qualified for State: Kopelyn Delong, Elizabeth Kitchin, Gabe Bauer; and Dylan Fritz. Congratulations to the following runners for receiving the following awards:

• 1st team All-Conference - Gabriel Bauer, Elizabeth Kitchin and Kopelyn Delong

• 1st Team All-District - Gabriel Bauer, Elizabeth Kitchin and Kopelyn Delong

• 2nd Team All-District - Dylan Fritz

• 1st Team All-Region - Gabriel Bauer, Elizabeth Kitchin and Kopelyn Delong

• Honorable Mention All-Region - Dylan Fritz

Fifth graders at East Elementary designed and made paper airplanes with and without paper clips to see which would fly farther. What a fun project!

Did you know that we have Virtual School Clinics at our Junior High, Middle School, East Elementary and South Elementary? If you get a call from our school nurse, eliminate the hassle of making a doctor's appointment or visiting urgent care for your student. Our Virtual School Clinics are great for common illnesses and cost your normal office visit copay. Parents can join in-person or by video conference, and prescriptions can even be called in by the provider. If your student does not attend a school with a Virtual School Clinic, you can take them to any of our participating locations. For more information here.

Ozark School District is hiring! We are looking for nutrition services workers, custodians, bus drivers and more. Find details about our open positions here - http://bit.ly/OzarkJobOpenings

Student Dedicated Every Day, Student Driven In Every Way

Email: ozarkcommunications@ozarktigers.org
Website: www.ozarktigers.org
Location: 1600 West Jackson, Ozark, MO, USA
Phone: (417) 582-5900
Facebook: facebook.com/OzarkSchoolDistrict
Twitter: @OzarkTigers